Seattle

We finally made our first trip to Seattle since we have been in Victoria!

Until I was sick last week, I had never ever EVER missed a single day of school. (Right, ZERO absences in three years!) But I was allowed to be absent on Friday so we could leave for Seattle on Thursday afternoon.

We woke up to a sunny and warm morning in Seattle on Friday. I watched some construction (way better than television) while I waited for my breakfast. Apparently, they are building another Hyatt just for me.

Even if I told you, you would not even believe how much I ate for breakfast. I will submit proof of that shortly.

After breakfast, I swam some laps. I am still small enough that it tends to surprise people when I enter the water and proceed to swim lap after lap of front crawl. Or swim underwater from one end of the pool to the other. I wonder what they would think to see me jump off the platform at my diving lesson. Speaking of diving, I can now do a backwards somersault into the water! (Note: I did NOT practice any diving at my hotel pool. It is too shallow. Safety first. Like my diving coach bluntly tells us at every lesson: if you don't follow the rules, you will drown or die.)

After swimming, we went walking. and walking. and walking. and walking. We logged more than five miles. It was during our walk that it became even more apparent that I had eaten too much at breakfast. Around downtown Seattle, where some of my favorite food is, my mom kept offering me snacks. cookies, pastries, drinks, pizza, donuts. Even at Le Panier, I couldn't be coaxed into eating a croissant au beurre; I could barely manage to choke down a glass of milk while my mom enjoyed her caramel macaron. oh the misery.

After our long walk, I used my gift card to buy a Lego set at Barnes and Noble. No trip is complete without a new Lego set.

On Saturday morning, Trinity picked me up early (I won't say bright and early because it was dark) so my mom could go to her race. She participated in the Rainier Tower stair climb. 40 flights!

Saturday was fun. more eating. more walking. more Lego. more talk about how badly I want to move to Seattle. tomorrow.

Our view from the ferry as we left on Sunday morning . . .

D Day

Christmas break finally ended and I returned to school on Monday.

The new year brought new, more exciting and challenging, work in school. I now have spelling homework that is assigned on Monday and a weekly test on Friday. I was placed in the most advanced spelling group with only two other students. I find the words to be a bit easy and I got them all correct in the practice test on Monday. 

On Tuesday, I was introduced to division. 

On Tuesday after school, I started diving lessons. (Yes, those little people on the diving platform . . . that is me with my diving crew.) Since I have been in swimming lessons since I was six months old, there really aren't lessons here that meet my needs perfectly so I am giving diving a try. Twice a week, I will go to diving for 90 minutes. The class includes 30 minutes of tumbling, 30 minutes of diving, and 30 minutes on the trampoline. And I have to wear a speedo!

About my diving program:

Located on Vancouver Island in the city of Victoria, Boardworks trains at Saanich Commonwealth Place which was built for the 1994 Commonwealth Games.  Known as one of the premier diving facilities in Canada and around the world, SCP provides Boardworks athletes with the opportunity to train at a high quality facility whose Commonwealth Games legacy focuses on maintaining an internationally competitive facility in order to assist high performance athletes achieve their international goals.